


Three Hundred Years

by SnowyWolff



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Demon!Spain, Demons, Falling In Love, M/M, Witch!Lovino, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27603937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyWolff/pseuds/SnowyWolff
Summary: Lovino is a witch. Antonio is a demon. With three meetings across three hundred years, they may figure out a relationship.
Relationships: South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. I. The Nineteenth Century

**Author's Note:**

> this fic has been finished for almost two years now (so do forgive the somewhat outdated characterization of lovi)--it was originally meant for the spamano zine, but i dropped out for a variety of reasons, but mostly bc i wasn't vibing with spamano anymore at the time, nor did i feel my contribution was at all appreciated, so it's just been sitting in my drafts  
> regardless, i reread it recently, found i actually quite liked it still bc it was written around the time my characterization of romano (and to a lesser degree, spain's) began to change drastically, so i figured i might as well publish it now //shrug

Lovino marched through the empty streets, lanterns extinguishing themselves as he passed. The crescent moon barely managed to light the cobblestone street, casting an ominous shadow on the houses as darkness followed the witch to his purpose.

Some lowlife demon had decided to disgrace the old streets of Rome with its presence, and Lovino was going to have words with him because they had talked about this. Causing a ruckus within the human population and setting off another bout of witch hunting was enough to justify Lovino’s anger, though part of Lovino wished he wouldn’t have to.

Lovino didn’t so much as pause when a shape danced in his peripheral and he hardly cared to hide his display of magic as he stopped and snapped his fingers, the last dregs of light vanishing.

He waited until the demon showed its face, appearing a shadow itself, then materializing a human form.

“You have some nerve, Fernández,” Lovino said. “This is your last fucking warning.”

Antonio Fernández, minor demon and absolutely the most annoying fuck alive, laughed, this time donning his usual disguise. Even in the darkness, Lovino could see those green eyes shine.

“You said that last time too,” Antonio said, stepping closer.

“Last time there weren’t any fucking witch trials,” Lovino hissed. “Last time, you said you’d stop this.”

Antonio shrugged. “Would you believe me if I said it isn’t me?”

“ _Are_ you saying that?”

“There’s something else, Lovino,” Antonio said earnestly. “I felt you, so I came this way.”

“All the way to Rome?”

“I mean—”

“Antonio.”

“I may have fucked up in Bilbao.” Antonio smiled crookedly. “And so I needed to be somewhere else and I figured why not Italy? You wouldn’t send me away, would you? After everything—”

Lovino held up a hand, staving off further rambling. Sixty years ago he had given Antonio a second chance, and Antonio had helped him as well…

“Fine.” Lovino sighed. “Okay, I believe you, but you do owe me now.”

Antonio frowned. “Why?”

“Because I’m not incinerating your ass right now. You know the rules, and to come to Rome—”

“I’m not doing anything though! And I promised, right? I only take black souls now!”

Lovino scowled at the grin Antonio sent his way. “Fantastic.”

Turning on his heel, Lovino resumed his earlier investigations and breathed deeply when Antonio fell into step beside him. That was fine. If Antonio had nothing to do with what was happening, it was nice to have him around as backup. Antonio was a pain, but not inherently evil.

It would also help Antonio’s position within the Community, as long as he kept his claws from the souls of the innocent. And if Antonio impressed the Community, then, well, there might not be such a taboo against dating him.

Antonio gripped his arm, and it always bothered Lovino just how warm the demon was, and it bothered him even more when Antonio leaned close to his ear and whispered, “The wind.”

Lovino frowned, but refrained from shaking Antonio off. He glanced around quickly, taking in the lack of wind, the deafening silence, and the blanket of darkness slowly covering them overhead, so thick not even the brightest star could pierce it.

Focusing, Lovino slowed his step, running through a list of creatures that could cause this. Antonio still held his arm, alert and present, steering them along the winding street.

A screech broke the haze and something dark and formless burst from the nearest alley in front of them. Lovino cast a spell that rattled the windows, incapacitating the being just as Antonio decided to take him to the ground.

The being hissed as Lovino stared up at Antonio, partially confused as to why he was now on the ground, partially very angry with Antonio for interfering with his work.

“Antonio.”

“Yeah?”

“Get off me.”

“But—”

“My _job_ , Antonio. Let me get rid of it.”

“Ah, do you have to?”

Lovino pushed against Antonio’s shoulders, not deeming that worthy of an answer, but Antonio was seated on his waist, both pinning him as well as obscuring Lovino’s view of the thing so he couldn’t do anything.

“Antonio, that thing has been wreaking havoc for over a _month_. The humans are scared. The Community is upset. I have to burn it.”

“Hm, but—” Antonio glanced behind him and Lovino caught a glimpse. If he could just—Antonio took his hand, leaning forward, cheek brushing Lovino’s, and whispered, “Isn’t this much more comfortable?”

Lovino glared as Antonio brushed their noses together. “No. Woo me when I’m not working, Antonio. Get off or so help me.”

Antonio sighed, but released him. He stood behind Lovino as the witch cast the ancient spell, lighting up the darkness with flickering golden-edged fire. As the acidic smell of the hellish creature burning filled the air, Lovino flicked his wrist to ignite the street lanterns once more, bathing them in warm light, and, with another intricate gesture, the street was cleaned, any trace of the beast gone.

“Such a shame,” Antonio said as he offered his arm to Lovino, smiling as Lovino took it without complaining.

“If you summoned it to summon me, we’re going to have words, Toni.”

“Ah.”

“ _Words_ , Fernández, I swear to fucking God!”

Antonio laughed. “I didn’t, I promise. I might be a demon, but even I can’t control hell creatures any more than you can.”

Lovino shot him a narrow look, but decided it was better to leave be. He released Antonio’s arm when they reached the intersection. “Do stay out of trouble while you’re here, Antonio. I’d hate to have to come burn you a second time.”

“I’ll try, Lovi, I really will,” Antonio said and was quick to press a kiss against Lovino’s knuckles. “Until we meet again.”

Lovino pursed his lips, rubbing his hand as if to dispel the demon’s touch, but bowed just as Antonio began to vanish into the shadows and replied, “I’ll look forward to it.”

The downright ecstatic smile Antonio flashed him would haunt Lovino until the turn of the century.


	2. II. The Twentieth Century

Lovino didn’t have to look up to know who had just seated themselves across the table from him in the buzzing tavern. Eighty years and the fucker decided to show up _now_.

“Are you angry?” Antonio asked, voice easily cutting through the noise surrounding them.

“No.”

“Ah, so you are.”

Lovino glanced up from his beer, frowned at the fingers that had steadily crawled closer to his hand. “No, I’m not, Antonio. If you want to fuck off for another eighty years, that’d be just fucking peachy.”

“I'm sorry. I figured the Community would be on your case after that night’s incident, so I stayed away to keep them from accusing you.”

That was fair, Lovino supposed, but it didn't excuse eighty years. Fuck, it hardly excused five because Lovino was good at what he did and didn't do, and for as far as the Community was aware, Lovino kept to himself and only went out of his way to do pest control when it directly affected him.

“For eighty years?”

“I lost track of time!”

Lovino scowled. His beer was empty, but getting up meant forgoing his seat. He met Antonio’s eyes, greener than they had been before, he was sure. He was tanner too, with dark freckles dotting his nose, and his hair was wilder, yet shorter. That infuriating smile hadn’t changed, stretching his lips thin and showing off his white teeth.

“Lovino, I really _am_ sorry,” Antonio said, shifting forward on his chair, his knees brushing against Lovino’s underneath the small table. “There were things to arrange. You’re not the only one with a duty.”

“My duty doesn’t involve taking souls of the innocent.”

“Mine either,” Antonio chirped. “I promised then in 1789, right? Tainted souls only. I need to survive somehow, Lovi.”

Lovino sighed and pushed his empty mug toward Antonio. “Fine, whatever. So, what do you want?”

Antonio tilted his head as he stood to refill Lovino’s mug. “Are you working right now?”

“What? No?”

Antonio grinned, but ducked into the crowd. Lovino glared at anyone so much as daring to look at the empty chair.

He didn’t know why he was entertaining Antonio. He was a demon with a reputation; Lovino was a witch with a resume. He did not need complications in the form of a handsome human being with questionable origins.

A fresh pint of beer was put in front of him and Antonio slid back in his seat, smiling. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to do that wooing now.”

Lovino flushed, glancing around the canteen quickly before kicking Antonio. “Eighty fucking years, Antonio.”

Antonio leaned across the table, and he was making his eyes brighter on purpose. They had not been _that_ green before, no way in hell. That cheeky little shape shifter.

“And you haven’t aged a day, Lovi,” Antonio said lowly, tracing a finger along Lovino’s arm.

Scoffing, Lovino sat up, brushing a hand through his hair. “That’s kind of the whole thing about being immortal.”

Antonio smiled. “You’re a pain to flirt with, you know.”

“I’m leaving.” Lovino rolled his eyes as Antonio’s long fingers wrapped around his wrist and he sat back down. “Get better at flirting.”

“I bet you suck at it.”

“I’m going to light you on fire.”

“Sexy.”

Lovino snorted, shook off Antonio’s hand and reached across the table to take Antonio’s chin between his fingers gently. Tilting his face, Lovino met those unwavering eyes and lowered his own. Leaning closer, Lovino just took a moment to appreciate Antonio’s features, wondering how real they were, how often Antonio had shifted over the years to accommodate beauty standards, whether Antonio even remembered what he used to look like.

Antonio’s breath was coming shallow as Lovino put his weight on the table so he could whisper by Antonio’s ear. “Certainly, you can do better?”

And Antonio turned his head as Lovino pulled back, catching him before he could move from the breath of space between them, a space where they stared at each other for a long moment until Antonio pressed forward and kissed Lovino. It was short, far too short for Lovino’s liking, but the tavern was loud and full and even in their little nook Lovino didn’t feel comfortable being exposed to humanity’s inability to accept, so he sat down, and finished his beer, and ignored Antonio’s leg pressed against his own.

When he finally set down his mug, Antonio took his arm and dragged him upright and out, the cool night air refreshing against Lovino’s hot cheeks. They walked away from the people, and then Lovino took Antonio’s hand and pulled him into an alley, pressed him against the wall, and kissed him again.

Antonio’s arms wound around his neck and returned every press, every nibble, every sigh, until Lovino couldn’t think anymore and he dropped his head on Antonio’s shoulder, breathing in the smell of tobacco and cheap beer and something otherworldly. Antonio gently ran his fingers through Lovino’s hair, and it was soothing and familiar and it had been _eighty years_.

“Antonio?”

“Hm?”

Lovino squeezed his hips and kissed his throat, murmuring, “For fuck’s sake, don’t vanish on me again.”

Antonio laughed, and shifted slightly to accommodate Lovino’s weight better. “I promise.”


	3. III. The Twenty-First Century

A car whizzed by, too fast for such a narrow alleyway. Lovino had to jump onto the nearest steps, fixing his cuffs with an equally narrow look as the asshole honked their horn and vanished around the corner.

Sometimes, he missed the time humans didn't trust things going beyond thirty miles an hour. Italians had certainly benefited from the limitations then.

The sun had just set, and as always it brought out the lowlife that roamed the Earth, including one annoyingly obtuse demon.

Lovino whirled. “Antonio, I swear to fucking God!”

A bouquet of every fucking flower in existence was pushed into his face.

“I brought flowers!” Antonio chirped brightly, as if he hadn't just left for Spain.

Lovino sputtered, fumbling to catch the flowers as Antonio leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“Anton—”

Antonio kissed him, fingers resting on Lovino’s arm to bridge the space over the flowers.

“Toni—”

More kissing. The stupid, distract-from-the-issue-for-as-long-as-possible demon thought Lovino was that easy, and he was, for a minute, then he stomped on Antonio’s foot with the heel of his expensive Armani shoes.

“You said you had shit to do in Alicante.”

“Ah, well, yes,” Antonio said as he rubbed his foot, leaning against the wall with a wince.

“Then why the fuck are you here?”

“I forgot something!”

“You forgot something,” Lovino echoed dryly. “Pray tell, Antonio, what did you forget?”

Antonio took Lovino’s arm and lead him into the shadows. It wasn't the first time Antonio had transported them somewhere like that, but it still unsettled Lovino immensely. It was like being broken down and remade, and perhaps that was exactly what it was, what with Antonio’s ever-changing body—shorter now, chubbier too, but still the same freckles, the same curls, the same eyes.

They appeared in Lovino’s apartment, tiny and messy and Lovino had to move in a year or so because he had been living there for ten already and he didn't look a day older than twenty-three. Lovino shuddered as Antonio released his arm and busied himself with setting the flowers in a vase to stave off how uncomfortable he felt.

“So, what did you forget?” Lovino asked as Antonio vanished inside the bedroom.

There was a loud bang and Antonio cussed something in Catalan, but then he reappeared, holding one of Lovino’s old cloaks.

Lovino stared at the thick fabric, the golden pattern faded, then he stared at Antonio.

“You,” Antonio said as if it explained everything.

“I know I say this a lot, but seriously, you've lost me.”

Antonio laughed, and it was a little a lot nervous. “Promise me you won’t be mad.”

That just made Lovino instantly suspicious. “What’d you do?”

“Nothing! Just—” Antonio threw the cloak over the back of the couch and took Lovino’s hands in his. “Okay, so, remember how, back in the 1700s when we first met, you promised not to set me on fire if I promised not to corrupt innocent souls any longer?”

“Yes…”

“And remember how, like, the next weeks, months, years a lot of hell creatures spawned.”

“Yes.” Lovino’s voice gained a dangerous edge, so Antonio ploughed on quickly.

“And how I promised to take them back because you were always so angry with me, but if I promised to get rid of them you’d be nicer and we finally got to talk and hang out and fall in love and—”

Lovino held up a hand, closing his eyes, counting to ten, breathing deeply. “Antonio.”

“Yes?”

“Is this you telling me that those things are still out there?”

Antonio chuckled nervously.

“And have been _for three hundred years_?”

“I mean—”

“Antonio!” Lovino had the distinct urge to strangle him. He made some telling gestures instead before brushing his hands aggressively through his hair. Covering his mouth and releasing a short, frustrated scream, Lovino glared at Antonio. “You’re in so much shit.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Antonio took a step forward, hand pausing when he caught Lovino’s foul look. “Listen, we can just go there; I know where they are. You can burn them _really_ quickly. And then we can have a holiday because you haven’t had one in forever.”

“Are you trying to turn this disaster into a _vacation_?”

“Um—”

“Fucking don’t even.” Lovino grabbed his cloak from the couch, fastened it around his neck and took Antonio’s arm. “You are paying for _everything_ , you lousy bastard. I cannot _believe_ you did this. Actually no, I can. Fucking—”

Antonio kissed him. Lovino allowed it, only because Antonio was a good kisser and Lovino wasn’t _that_ angry; just incredibly exasperated. When Lovino pulled back, took a deep breath to continue chewing Antonio out, the demon pressed their foreheads together, and Lovino paused.

“I love you,” Antonio said. “Lovino, I love you so, so much.”

Lovino frowned. “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull, but it’s not going to work. Probably.”

Laughing, Antonio kissed him again, and again, and repeated, “I love you.”

“I love you too, you ass.” Lovino sighed, brushing his thumb over Antonio’s cheek fondly. They would talk this over later, most likely when Lovino was actually dealing with this mess, but for now Lovino would indulge Antonio, just ever so slightly. “Now, get us to wherever the fuck these things are, so I can set them on fire before the Community actually fucking notices something.”

**Author's Note:**

> love it when timing works out.... had this fic set up to be published sometime soon, but then Someone posted a uhhhhhh very funny pro-shipper list on twitter so people can block those filthy usuk and spamano shippers and i really wanted to nominate myself to be put on that list so eyyyy ✌️ 
> 
> please leave me a comment if you read and enjoyed!!! love to hear people's thoughts so long as theyre not about certain fictional characters being considered family (by the fandom) and thus inappropriate to ship!!! get off my lawn!!!!
> 
> EDIT: ive made it y'all no. 177 of ??? 🎉🍾✨


End file.
